Aluminum, oxide, and silicon phonons by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy on metal-oxide-semiconductor tunnel junctions: Accurate determination and effect of electrical stress

We do inelastic electrical tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) to provide information concerning the vibrational and excitational modes present in silicon dioxide and phonon modes of the electrodes, and of silicon dioxide in metal-oxide-silicon tunnel junction. We analyze the phonon spectra coming from different parts of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) junction: the aluminum gate, the SiO2 ultrathin film, and the silicon substrate. We compare the phonon modes for the (100) and (111) silicon orientations. We show that IETS can reveal the modifications of Si-SiO2 interface induced by electrical stresses. After a constant voltage stress, the silicon longitudinal phonon modes are significantly shifted in energy, while the transversal phonon modes stay unaffected. Interface healing after annealing is also observed by IETS. These features make IETS a useful tool for MOS reliability studies. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.